Southwest BBQ Turkey Tacos – and a Giveaway

Update: Congrats to Shaina, our giveaway winner! Thanks to all who entered.

We love Thanksgiving and all of its warm, rich, comfort foods. But sometimes it’s good to lighten things up a little bit, add some new color, throw in a little crunch, or just find a way to make everything a just little bit healthier. That’s where our favorite Dole salad kits and blends come in – They’ve got just the right mix of color and flavor to add “pop” to everything from Thanksgiving featured dishes, to lunchbox leftovers.

Here’s what’s we love about working these salad kits into your Thanksgiving routine: 1) They incorporate all different varieties of greens, so you get the whole spectrum of colors, flavors, and nutrition. 2) They’re already perfectly chopped up, so you don’t have to lift a finger to do any amount of extra work on chopping, dicing, or slicing. 3) They’re perfectly sized for a meal so you can use them right up, and not have to worry about leftovers of the leftovers (this can go on and on in our house, as things go back in the fridge in smaller and smaller containers).

Since we’ve got so many taco lovers in the house, we decided to use the Dole Chopped BBQ Ranch salad kit to make some Southwest BBQ Turkey Tacos. The beauty of building a taco from a salad base is that you’re not tempted to overload on the meat or the dressing – we made the vegetables the star of the show. This kit is chock-full of green and red cabbage, romaine, kale, sweet carrots, and green onions.

For these tacos, we put on the naked salad mix first, followed by the cilantro, onions, cheese and a little bit of turkey, and then we drizzled the whole thing with the smokey BBQ ranch dressing that came with the salad. The taste is reminiscent of Baja fish tacos that are served with crunchy cabbage and a crema garnish – except these lightened-up tacos don’t have all the extra fat of the deep-fried fish.

Lightened-up Thanksgiving leftovers made with a crunchy salad and BBQ ranch dressing

Ingredients

1 Dole Chopped BBQ Ranch Salad Kit

½ red onion, finely chopped

4 ounces cotillo cheese

10-12 sprigs fresh cilantro

8 ounces carved turkey, diced

8 corn tortillas

2 T. olive oil

Instructions

Prepare the fillings: Empty the greens contents of the salad mix into a large bowl. Set out portions of the onion, cilantro, cheese, and turkey.

In a small non-stick pan, drizzle a small amount of olive oil. Heat a tortilla over medium heat until it is lightly golden brown on one side - about 2 minutes - flip, and repeat. Repeat for the remaining tortillas. Lay out the tortillas on a platter.

Top each tortilla with a scoop of lettuce mixture, and sprinkling of onions, cheese, turkey, and cilantro. (Optional: Add the crunchy tortilla strips included in the salad mix.) Drizzle each taco with a small amount of BBQ ranch dressing from the salad kit (a little goes a long way!).

Serve immediately. Serves 8.

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Here’s a tip for getting the dressing just right: Cut off a teeny corner from the dressing packet so that you can squeeze it out to get the perfect drizzle.

Note: The Chopped BBQ Ranch salad kit is just one of our favorites; we also love the other new Dole Chopped Salad kits including Sesame Asian, Sunflower Crunch, and Kale Caesar. Another great collection from Dole is the Power Up Greens collection that offers baby kale, baby kale and greens, and spring mix and greens all in a handy, ready-to-use package.

Looking for more healthy Thanksgiving recipes? Check out these beautiful favorites from the Dole recipe collection:

And now for the giveaway! We’re proud to give away a stash of Dole goodies, just in time for your holiday cooking. Enter through this Rafflecopter between Friday, November 21 and Friday, November 28, to win a Dole tote bag, a Dole tumbler, Dole collapsible bento box, 3 Dole salad coupons, and the Eating Well cookbook. Good luck, and happy Turkey day!

a Rafflecopter giveawayBlogger disclosure: We received compensation from Dole for this post and giveaway. All opinions expressed are our own.